Oceanside
by loveiscalling
Summary: Eleven friends. Two weeks. One beach house.  Featuring; John O'Callaghan, Kennedy Brock, Garrett Nickelsen, Travis Clark,  Cassadee Pope, Alex Gaskarth, Jack Barakat, & Zack Merrick
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

[ Megan's POV ]

"ZACHARY!" I screamed, running towards him with open arms.  
"Hey!" Zack Merrick laughed into my hair as I leaped into his arms.  
"I missed youuuu!" I grinned as I pulled away.  
"I missed you too." He smiled, but flinched as I let out a loud gasp.  
"GARRRRRETTTT!" I yelled, running away from Zack and towards a dark haired figure with glasses.  
"Well you move on fast!" Zack yelled after me, pouting.  
"Sorry! Gotta see my dork!" I yelled back with a toothy grin.  
"Garrett!" I jumped into his arms as he caught me.  
"Well hello." Garrett Nickelsen chuckled, squeezing me back.  
"Guess what!" I said excitedly.  
"What?" He laughed, mocking my enthusiasm.  
"I brought zombie movies so we can watch them and be dorks together!" I said giddily.  
Garrett laughed, "Alright, Meg, sounds good."  
I chuckled, "You so missed me."  
"Yes I did!" He exclaimed, pulling me into another hug.  
"But not as much as I DID!" Alex Gaskarth appeared behind Garrett grinning.  
"ALEX! THIS IS LIKE A FAMILY REUNION!" I squealed.  
"Yeah, only we're not family!" Jack Barakat laughed from beside him.  
"Jackieeeee!" I laughed, pulling them both into a hug.  
"Don't forget Jonny Appleseed!" John O'Callaghan smiled like a little kid from behind me.  
"Cornelius!" I laughed, hugging him tightly.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked excitedly.  
"Well, Rian's parents got really into Extreme Makeover Home Edition and decided to make him stay home and help re-model the house, since his mom's afraid that his dad will hurt himself using a ladder." Jack informed me.  
"Yeah and Jared got dragged into a fishing trip in Alaska with his dad, and he convinced push-over Patty-cakes to go along with him. He told him they would get to pet penguins...yeah." Garrett rubbed the back of his head, chucking at his best friend's five year old heart.  
"Oh?" I laughed, raising my eyebrows. "Well where's Kenny and Cass?"  
"Cass isn't coming 'till the day after tomorrow, and Kennedy..."  
"Is right behind you." A deep male voice whispered into my ear.

I jumped two feet, and whipped around to see Kennedy smirking with his arm draped around Jess, who's cheeks were bright red.  
"Awwww!" I blurted at the sight of both of them. "And OH MY GOD, KENNEDY! YOU SCARED ME, STUPID!"  
I ran up and gave him a huge bear hug.  
Kennedy laughed, amused.  
"Hey, where's the guys?" He asked.

I glanced at Jess.  
"Well, Danny decided to stay home to spend every minute with his girlfriend, and Hunter and Drew surprised Mama Thomsen with a trip to the Hawaii because she was complaining that they didn't spend enough time together...and Travis, is taking a nap in the car." I chuckled at the last part of my sentence.

Jess, Travis, and I had all traveled here together, with Travis driving, Jess in the back, and me in the passenger seat. I had asked if he wanted me to drive when we were about two hours away from Laguna Beach because he looked exhausted, and he had gratefully pulled over and switched places, reclining his seat and immediately closing his eyes. He'd looked so peaceful and precious when we pulled into the driveway that I didn't have the heart to wake him up, so I left him to sleep.

"Hey, where's Haylie?" Alex asked curiously.  
"She was helping Savannah work out the final details of the wedding, cause Savannah's super stressed about the whole thing, since her parents' flight got delayed and they can't make it until the morning of the wedding. But AJ's driving Hayls up around six tonight, and he's spending the night and day tomorrow." Jess said.  
"Yes! I miss that dude!" Jack exclaimed.

I smiled, looking around at the circle of happy faces around me. It truly was a reunion of the greatest people in my life. The next two weeks were going to be amazing. Filled with lots of laughs, parties, and memories.

"Alight I'm gonna go grab our bags." I decided, dismissing myself.  
They all flashed me a smile of acknowledgement, and I made my way outside the amazing beach house to our car, grinning at the sight of Travis lightly snoring in the front seat. I opened the backseat door to grab Jess' backpack and saw Travis stirring out of the corner of my eye. I smiled, closing the door and opening the drivers seat door, climbing onto the seat and kissing Travis on the cheek.

"Hi Love." He whispered, his eyes still closed.  
"Hello." I smiled.  
His eyes fluttered open and he grinned at me.  
"We're here." I told him quietly.  
"You're here." He said, planting a sweet kiss on my lips.  
I smiled, blushing bashfully at his charm.  
"You want to go in?" I asked him.  
"Let's just sit here for a few minutes." Travis suggested quietly.

He still seemed tired from his nap, like he wasn't quite ready to energetically greet everyone yet. I smiled, settling into the drivers' and closing the door. I leaned my head back and turned to sneak a peek at Travis. He smirked, feeling my eyes on him, and reached for my hand, gently intertwining both of ours together.


	2. Chapter 2

[ Jess' POV ]

"Kennedy, have you seen my phone charger?" I asked, rummaging through my suitcase that was sitting on the big king size bed in our bedroom. "I swear I packed it in here somewhere."

Kennedy walked over to me, and started looking.

"No, but I did find this!" he said as he held up a old ratty stuffed animal.

"Hey! Give that back!" I begged, as he held my prized posession above my head, teasing me.

He laughed, obviously amused by my lack of height.

"You know what, fine." I pouted, "Be a jerk."

I took a few steps away from him, turned, and charged him with full force. He landed, face up on the bed. I took advantage of the position he was in. I snatched my stuffed bear out of his grasp, and pinned him to the bed.

"Not so much fun when you're the one looking up, now is it?" I taunted him.

Kennedy smirked mischievously, looking up at me. Just as I was about to lean in for a kiss, there was a violent knock on the door. I immediately freed Kennedy and sat up on the bed.

"Come in!" I called.

The door cracked open to reveal a shirtless Jack in nothing but a highliter yellow speedo.

"I'd hate to interupt your love making fest and all, but we're headed for the beach! You comin?"

"Jack! What the hell man! I thought we agreed, no speedos!" Alex exclaimed from behind him.

"Yeah, but I feel it suits me quite well." Jack said. "The chicks will be ALL over me!"

"Unless you mean their puke will be all over you, I suggest you change into something that covers more of your scrawny-ness, dickface."

They continued to argue about Jack's swim-wear and their voices echoed through the hall as Kennedy and I rolled on the bed, laughing at our friends.

"CHANGE INTO YOUR SWIMSUITS, LOVE BIRDS!" Alex called.

"BUT DON'T WEAR ANY SPEEDOS, CAUSE APPARENTLY THEY AREN'T ALLOWED!" Jack yelled in a pouty tone.

"OH! AND HAYLIE AND AJ ARE HERE!"

I laughed at their ridiculousness, and lit up when I heard they one of my best friends had arrived. Kennedy forced himself up from the bed, holding out his hand for me.

"Let's get changed, bug." He said, grinning.

I took his hand and allowed him to pull me off the bed, and he grabbed his bag and walked to the bathroom to change, while I dug around looking for my kelly green bikini. I finally found it in a bag with some of our beach towels, and quickly put it on before Kennedy could come back into the room. Then I continued my search to find something to wear over it.

I heard a whistle from behind me, and blushed as I turned to see Kennedy leaning in the doorway in a pair of navy blue Hawaiian floral patterned swim shorts and a white v-neck. He chuckled at my red cheeks and came and embraced me in a hug. He pulled away, planting a sweet kiss on my lips and smirking.

"You look preeeeetty." He complimented me in a sing-song voice.

I rolled my eyes, grinning, and pulled away from him, to resume looking for a pair of shorts. I finally found a new pair of ripped white jean cut offs and found a strapless pink floral tank top on the floor. I threw them both on, and walked out of the room to find Kennedy sitting on the couch eating a fruit roll-up. I laughed at the sight of him being so captured with the television, and he finally noticed that I was staring at him.

"You ready, darling?" He asked, smiling.

My knees got a little weak at the sight of him, and I held up my finger to tell him to wait a minute and ran to the bathroom. I took a deep breath, and glanced in the mirror. I always felt comfortable around Kennedy, and I could just sit around with him in sweatpants and no make up, but I felt like I wanted to look pretty for him today. So I quickly found some eye-liner in my make up bag on the counter and applied it, then weaved my short auburn hair into mini braids, combing the remaining locks that hung around them. I hesitantly smiled to myself in the mirror, and walked out to meet Kennedy once again.

His face lit up when his eyes met mine, and he walked towards me. Holding my hands, he grinned and leaned towards me.

"You are beautiful, always." He whispered into my ear.

I blushed for the hundredth time that day, and slipped my hand in his, heading for the door.

"ONE! TWO! THREEEEE! WOOOOOOOOOOO!" On Jack's call, all eleven of us sprinted towards the ocean, splashing and throwing each other around, laughing, and goofing off.

I grinned sheepishly as I caught Travis looking intimately into Megan's eyes. I knew right then that they were absolutely in love. I mentally snapped a picture of their cuteness in my mind. I had the eye of a photographer, and I couldn't help it. As I looked around at everyone else, I smiled at John and AJ screaming at the top of their lungs, and Zack and Garrett dunking Jack. I watched as Alex spun Haylie around, they were both exploding with laughter, and I couldn't help but think what was going on with them. I giggled as I felt Kennedy's arms snake around my waist, and plant a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Alex! Dude your phone is ringing!" Zack yelled over all of the laughter and yelling as he continued to force Jack under water.

Alex laughed, throwing Haylie a short distance away jokingly and running towards the shore to answer his phone.

"Hey guys!" He yelled a minute later. "Lisa's here!"

"Great!" Jack and Zack muttered sarcastically in unison.

"Who's Lisa?" Haylie asked, confused.

"The hottest and bitchiest chick you will ever meet in your life." Jack said, rolling his big brown eyes.

"Alex's girlfriend." Zack mumbled.


	3. Chapter 3

[ Haylie's POV ]

"Oh." I said, surprised.

I disguised the feeling of my heart sinking by giggling and splashing Jack, who had just risen from underneath the ocean and was gasping desperately for air. Zack laughed and joined in, and it seemed that they had both temporarily forgotten about Lisa.

I felt Jess and Meg staring at me, but I shrugged it off. I knew they had taken notice to the feelings that I had already had for Alex grow stronger, what with our nonstop flirting since I got here.

I decided to push the heart breaking feeling in my chest to the side, and focus on having fun with my friends.

After a while, we all decided to freak Jack out by dunking him, and then hiding under the water before he came back up. After he began freaking out, we all grabbed onto his legs and yanked him under. He screamed at the top of his lungs, aggressively ripping himself free and sprinting towards the beach.

We all came up for air, laughing hysterically as Jack ran all the way to the house, with his arms flailing in the air. Everyone slowly followed behind, I grabbed my clothes, phone, and towel and walked along side John and AJ up to the house.

As soon as we walked inside, we found a beautiful blonde haired girl crossing her arms and glaring at Alex. She was wearing a short and tight silver sequined dress and her clearly dyed platinum hair was cut short at her neck. Zack and Jack were right, she was very pretty, but she did also look snobby, considering the daggers she was shooting towards Alex.

I glanced down at her three inch silver heels, wondering where this girl thought she was going. The rest of us were soaking wet and wrapped in towels, and here she was ready for a walk down the red carpet.

Zack cleared his throat loudly, causing Lisa to tear her death glare away from Alex and direct it towards the ten of us. I rubbed my arm uncomfortably and I felt AJ nudge me. I glanced up at him confused. He shot me a concerned look, but I just gave him a shrug back, and he decided to let it go considering the amount of silent tension in the room.

"Guys, this is Lisa." Alex finally introduced her quietly.

We all waved, and everyone was clearly aware of how awkward the situation was. Lisa hardly made any recognition towards us, just turning on her heels towards the back sliding door.

"Um, we'll be right back..." Alex mumbled, following her outside towards the guest house.

I shot a glance at Megan, my eyes widening, but cracked a small smile as Jack muttered 'told you soooo' in a sing-song voice, breaking the silence in the room. Everyone laughed and found a seat on the white couch, grabbing food, and turning on the TV.

I glanced around, deciding to quietly sneak out the back door, and see what was going on. I walked along the stone pathway that lead to the guest house and crept behind it.

"You're still not answering my question. Why are there other girls here, Alex?" Lisa snapped.

"Other guys are allowed to have girlfriends, Lisa. And why are you being like this? Lighten up."

"Don't touch me!" I heard her screech.

I cringed, she really was a bitch. I was a little relieved, to be honest. I would've been jealous if Lisa had turned out to be nice and pretty.

"Do all the girls have boyfriends?" She asked.

"Well, no but-"

"I SAW you flirting with that brown haired one in the water, Alex!"

"I wasn't flirting with her, she's one of my best friends!" Alex snapped back defensively.

I shut my eyes tightly, inwardly begging the tears that were threatening to spill out of my eyes to go away.

I heard Lisa scoff.

"What do you think I am, an idiot? Ugh! I don't wanna be here with all of these freaks! This whole thing is stupid."

"Then why did you even come?" Alex shouted icily.

Suddenly I jumped as I heard footsteps coming. I glanced up and saw a maroon shirt in front of me, and felt warm strong arms wrapping around me.

"What's wrong?" AJ whispered.

"Alex." I sniffled.

I glanced back through the tiny window of the guest house, and saw Alex's eyes looking right into mine.


	4. Chapter 4

[ Jess' POV ]

"Coming up next: How It's Made." The announcer said showing a preview reel of the episode.

"YES!" Garrett said aloud, getting up and placing himself right in front of the tv screen. "What are we making today!" He asked the tv, rubbing his hands together.

Everyone laughed at Garretts dork-like behavior and fixed their eyes to the television screen. I heard the back door open. I turned my head to the side and saw Aj walking Haylie to her room.

"Everything alright?" Kennedy whispered into my ear.

His breath caused chills to roll down my back. I faced him and looked into his deep green eyes.

"I just need to go check on Haylie." I told him.

I rose from the couch and made my way around everyone.

"Watch it! I'm learning how to make horseshoes!"

Garrett whinned, swerving his head so that the screen was visible.

"Ehh calm down, when are you ever gonna find the time to make a horseshoe anyway?" I asked him. "Just you wait my friend, it'll happen." he said defensively, eyes still glued to the tv. "Hey Gare, wouldn't it help if you wrote all this down?" Megan asked sarcastically from the sofa. "Brilliant!" Garrett said throwing his arms in the air.

I walked down the long narrow hallways, listening to the echoing laughs coming from the living room, and stopped when I came to Haylie's room. I took a deep breath before knocking on her door.

"Who is it?" a muffled voice asked. "It's me." I said in a low voice, then cleared my throat. "It's Jess. Can I come in?"

There was a moment of silence, and then the door cracked open. Haylie stood there with tear stains visible on her face. I opened my arms and embraced her in a loving hug.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked quietly, trying to comfort just sniffled and shrugged.

I glanced at AJ, who was sitting on Haylie's bed, looking sad. I led Haylie over towards him and we both took a seat on the bed next to him.

Haylie sniffled once more, then wiped her cheeks.

"I just, I thought he liked me back for some reason." She said, wiping the rest of her tears away. "I don't know why, but did you see him today? Was he flirting with me, Jess?"I nodded, "Yeah, he was, and everyone saw, but Alex is a flirt, Hayls, you never know what he's thinking. He's hard to figure out, it's difficult to tell if he likes a girl or not. You're his best friend, and he could have just been excited to see you, or he could've forgotten all about Lisa when he was with you. I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this, sweetie, but don't let this ruin our vacation. You've got all of your best friends here, and I don't want any drama! Lisa shmisa! Okay?"

Haylie smiled at my pep talk and nodded. She finished wiping away her tears and pulled my into a hug, then did the same two AJ.

"Thank you." She said gratefully to us both.

I knew Haylie well, but I couldn't tell if she was actually over this, or if it was just an act. Either way, I was going to make sure to make her happy.

The three of us walked back into the living room, where everyone was gripping their stomachs and toppling over with laughter, cracking jokes about Garrett, who was only inches from the flat screen television, with a pen and paper, scribbling ferociously. I chuckled at the sight of him, plopping down on the hardwood floor next to Kennedy and smiling up at Haylie, and patting the empty space next to me.

She took a seat, planting a happy grin on her face, while AJ laid across everyone on the couch.

"Hey has anyone seen Alex?" John asked after 'How It's Made' had ended."Nope, not since he disappeared with bee-otch." Jack said obnoxiously.

I glanced over at Haylie, but she was still smiling.

"Well, he's shit out of luck, because I proclaim that we have a jam session!" John announced excitedly.

"YEAH!" Jack exclaimed, jumping up to get some guitars, and Garrett followed him.

The came back with three guitars and a bass, and Jack handed Zack his black acoustic, and Kennedy the other, and gave John a tambourine he found. Garrett kept the white bass in his hand taking a seat across from me, and shocked me when he handed the last brown acoustic guitar to me.

I shot him a confused look, and he shot me a look back.

"Puh-lease Jessica! Don't try to hide your killer skills from us. Kennedy tells me you're a beast!" Garrett said.

I glared at Kennedy for putting me on the spot, but he just flashed me an innocent grin and a shrug. I rolled my eyes and sighed, accepting the guitar pick from Garrett.

"Hey guys, how bout this?" Zack grinned and began playing a melody.

Everyone cheered, and Kennedy, Garrett, and I joined along with the chords, as everyone else patted their legs along with the beat, and John began to sing.

"I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend. You could, cut ties with all the lies that you've been living in. Aaaand, if you do not want to see meee again, I would understaaaaaaaand, I would understaaaaaand.

"The angry boy, a bit too insane icing over with secret pain, you know you don't belong. You're the first to fight, you're way too loud, you're the flash of light on a burial shroud,I know something's wrooooong. Well everyone I know has got a reasoon, to say..."

"PUT THE PAST AWAY!" We all sang, laughing.

"Take it Travis!" Jack said excitedly.

"I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend. You couuuld, cut ties with all the lies that you've been livin' in, Aaaand, if you do not want to see me agaaain, I would understaaaaaaand, I would understaaaaaaand..."

"Go Megan!" Zack shouted, grinning. "What?" Megan asked, surprised."Sing!" Travis nudged her, 's eyes got wide, but Travis flashed her and assuring look, telling her to go ahead. She sighed.I grinned proudly at Megan finally having her moment.

"Well he's on the table, and he's gone to code, and I do not think anyone knows, what they're...doin' here. And you're friends have left you, you've been dismissed, I never thought it would come to this, and I...I want you knoooooow, everyone;s got to face down the demons, maybe today..."

"WE CAN PUT THE PAST AWAY!"

"KENNEDY!" Garrett laughed, joining in."I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend. You could, cut tiees, with all the lies, that you've been livin' in, aaaand, if you do not want to see me again, I would understaaeiaaaaand, I would understaeiaaaaand, I would understaaaand..."

I tried to keep my jaw from dropping. I tried to keep playing. I tried to stop voice was beautiful.

"Take it away Garrett!" John suddenly yelled.

Garrett began to kill it on bass as we all laughed and clapped along, and I gazed admiringly at Kennedy. He felt me looking at him and looked back at me, grinning bashfully.

John patted the tambourine with the beat and everyone clapped along. Suddenly Zack took it away with the guitar solo, causing everyone cheer. Everyone laughed at Jack, who attempted the scream-o part of the song, not knowing what the actually words of it were.

"YOOOYOYOOYOYOOOO!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Kennedy laughed, taking over the next guitar solo gracefully.

Then we all joined in, laughing and singing along.

"Could you put the past away! Wish you would step back from that ledge my friend!""I would understaaaand!" John sang."Wish you would step back from that ledge my friend!""I would understaaaand!""Wish you would step back from that ledge my friend!""I would understaaaaaand!""Wish you would step back from that ledge my friend!""And I would understaaaaaand!""Wish you would step back from that ledge my friend!""I would understaaaaaand!""Wish you would step back from that ledge my friend!""And I would understaaaand..."

"WOOOOO! NOW LET'S PLAY TAYLOR SWIFT!" Garrett yelled giddily.


	5. Chapter 5

Megan's POV

"GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!" Jack sang, parading through the house, banging a cooking pot with a wooden spoon. "Up and at 'em!"

I felt Travis turn over next to me, making himself more comfortable on the bed. I opened my eyes slightly, the morning sun shone brightly through the vast window on the opposite side of the room. I smiled to myself at the sight of Travis nestled under the white sheets. He looked so peaceful and at ease. I sat motionless, admiring him as he inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"Did you not hear me?" Jack questioned in a loud voice, poking his head through the doorway.

I turned and glared at Jack in his Spongebob Squarepants boxers. Suddenly a pillow flew from behind me and nailed Jack right in the face. I looked back to see a sleepy Travis sitting up beside me.

"What the hell was that for!" Jack shrieked, picking the pillow up and throwing it directly at Travis.

He sat there, motionless, as the pillow made its impact.

I let out a giggle, "Jack, I think he's still sleeping."

"Oh, rightttt. You expect me to believe that he threw a pillow at me in his sleep? Meg, I'm not an idiot." He said, placing his hand on his hip.

"Whatever you say, Jackie, whatever you say." I said, rolling my eyes. "Just give me a minute. I'll get him up, and we will be out there."

Jack shot Travis a look before exiting the room. I waited as his footsteps echoed down the hallway.

Then I drew my attention back to Travis, trying to figure out how to wake him up.

"Trravvvisss?" I snapped my fingers in front of his face, nothing. "Waakkee uppp." I said quietly into his ear, and rested my head on his shoulder. He breathed in and smiled, "Good morning, love."

"Morning! Now come on, time to get up." I said, smiling and taking his hands in mine, pulling him off the bed.

"What? No good morning kiss?" he pouted.

I smiled up at him, got on my tip-toes, and kissed his cheek.

"Good morning." He wrapped his arms around my waist, as we walked down the hallway towards the kitchen. The smell of eggs and bacon were fresh in the air.

"Gooooood morninggg sleepy heads!" Alex sang as we stepped foot into the kitchen.

Everyone was gathered around the long rectangular glass table, still in their sleeping attire. Travis and I took our seats near the end of the table as Jess and Kennedy brought our plates and set them down in front of us.

"How did you guys sleep?" Jess asked cheerfully towards Travis and I.

"Great." I chuckled."Except for Jack's personalized wake up call and a certain pillow incident, we slept like babies."

"What pillow incident?" Travis asked from beside me confused, as Jess and Kennedy laughed.

"Oh, you threw a pillow at Jack while you were sleeping. It was funny, you should've been awake for it!" I said, smirking.

"I threw a pillow in my sleep? AWESOME!" Travis boasted.

We all giggled, digging into our pancakes and bacon.

"Hey, where's Hayls?" I asked, glancing around.

"She swore at me when I told her to wake up." Jack said dolefully."I told her breakfast was ready, but she threated to beat me up with whatever was closest to her, which was her clock-radio...so I left her to sleep."

I laughed at Haylie's need for a solid twelve hours of sleep, and shoved another fork full of Alex's amazing pancakes in my mouth.

"Hey guys, I heard about this huge bonfire tonight down by the beach when I went for a run this morning." Zack mentioned with his mouth full.

"How do you hear about a bonfire while you're running, Zack?" I asked, chuckling at the thought of him eavesdropping on some random teenager's conversation through his headphones.

"Well, I ran into this girl-" He began, but was interrupted by a simultaneous 'Oooooooh!' from Jess and I.

Zack's cheeks immediately became red, and he glared at both of us, continuing on with his story.

"Anyways, I ran into her, literally, she was running the other way, and we collided, and we started talking and asked if I was going to this bonfire tonight. I told her about how I was just staying with all of you, and she told us all to come, as long as we don't get everyone arrested!" Zack said excitedly.

"We can totally do that!" John exclaimed.

"Mmmm, no promises." Alex said, laughing.

We all talked excitedly about tonight's plans, and through all the chaos I caught Jess shooting Alex a glare, but I don't think he saw it. I shot her a perplexed expression, but she just rolled her eyes.

Once everyone cleaned up from breakfast, except for Alex, who claimed that he cooked, so everyone else had to clean, and Jack, who insisted that he'd helped by getting almost everyone out of bed.

"Hey Alex, where's Lisa?" I asked, as I plopped down on the couch next to him.

"Um, she wasn't feeling good, so I let her sleep." He said, staring at the blank television.

I frowned, sensing that I wasn't getting all of the information I could out of him, and laid my head on his lap, looking up at him.

"Do you wanna talk about something?" I asked concerned.

"What would make you think that?" He asked, smirking at my position.

"Well you don't seem to be happy." I told him.

"Puh-lease. Would a sad person make everyone pancakes?" Alex reasoned.

"Maybe, if he didn't want people to think he was sad." I contorted.

"I'm fine, Meggers." He smiled, ruffling my auburn hair.

I crossed my arms over my chest, pouting.

"What?" He asked, seeming puzzled.

I sat up, looking at him.

"Did we not agree in sixth grade after you forgot to tell me that I had a poppyseed from my everything bagel stuck in my front tooth and let me walk around all day with it until everyone laughed at me when I was presenting my dead presidents project that we would tell each other everything?" I questioned.

"Yes." Alex mumbled, looking down.

"Well then you will tell me what's going on in your confusing little mind, and you will tell me now, please." I demanded.

"Hey now, my mind isn't little, I have an astounding vocabulary!" Alex said defensively.

I glared at him.

"Lisa and I got into a fight." He said quietly in a serious tone, looking around to make sure no one was listening. "And I don't really know what to feel. I know I'm supposed to be hurt, because she's my girlfriend and I should care about her feelings and stuff, but I just don't. I mean she was nice and chill at first when we met, but now she's just so fucking annoying. And with Haylie around, I just -I don't know what to feel."

I raised my eyebrows, a little surprised at what had been on his mind.

"But you can't tell anyone, Meg. I'm just confused. Ew, that just sounded homosexual, but really, please don't tell Haylie or anyone. I just want to have fun on this vacation, that's what we all came here for. Just to have fun." He said, sighing.

"Okay." I agreed. "But Alex, I think you should tell Haylie how you feel."

"But I don't really know how I feel! And what about Lisa? Do I just kick her to the curb and tell her to leave? I don't want to be a complete asshole. I just, I just need to think." He groaned, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Alright." I nodded, getting up and opening my arms. "Come here."

Alex chuckled, standing up and enclosing my body in his chest.

"Thanks, Meg." He grinned.

"No problem, I love ya." I smiled, pulling away."Just don't screw everything up."

I ruffled his hair as he laughed, calling a sarcastic 'thanks' as I skipped away in search of Travis.

I sighed, with my hands on my hips, staring at the huge pile of clothes on the floor in front of me. I groaned, launching myself onto the bed, and digging into my pocket for my phone. I quickly dialed, pressing the cold metal to my ear.

"Hello?" A familiar female voice answered.

"Heyyyyy," I replied,"what are you wearing tonight?"

"Meg, I'm right down the hall, you know you can just come and ask me." Jess laughed into her blackberry.

"Yeah, but I'm so lazzzy." I sighed.

"Alright, let me think...wear your ripped denim skinny jeans, cause it's supposed to be really windy and cold, and something blue on top, it makes your eyes pop." Jess advised, giggling. I heard Kennedy laughing in the backround, and smirked, rolling my eyes.

"Kay, I gotta go, Meg. You're gonna look beautiful!" Jess hung up.

I sighed, standing up and digging through the pile, finding the jeans and a blue v-neck. Deciding it would due, I threw them on and grabbed Travis' gray sweatshirt that was laying on the bed that he'd offered for me to wear tonight. I threw it over my head, and walked down the hallway and out the front door, grinning at the redhead who caught my eye.

"Hello love." Travis grinned as I took a seat next to him on the cement wall, facing the ocean.

"Hey." I smiled, looking into his eyes, and feeling the butterflies fill my stomach.

He had his guitar on his lap, but he turned to place on the ground behind us.

"No." I said smiling, putting a hand on the guitar to stop him. "Play something."

He grinned, placing the instrument back on his lap.

"What would you like me to play?" Travis asked, plucking a few strings.

"I don't know." I shrugged, sheepishly grinning. "I just want to hear you sing."

Travis chuckled, "How about this?"

He started playing the intro to We'll Be A Dream, and a smile spread across my face. He knew that was one of my favorite songs.

"Do you remember the nights we drove around crazy, smiling for hours at anything?"

I closed my eyes, getting lost in his voice, and singing along in my head.

When the song reached Demi's part, I absentmindedly began to sing along, like I usually do when I listen to the song.

"Do you remember the niiights we, made our way dreeaming, hoping of beeing, someone biiiig." I finally realized what I was doing, and blushed when I saw Travis smiling at me through the corner of my eyes, but I continued, staring at the sand beneath our feet.

"When the lights gooo out, we'll be safe annnnd sound, we'll take control of the world like it's allll we have, to hold on to, and we'll beeee a dreaaam.

"We'll beee a dreaaaaaam." I sang the last line, feeling my cheeks warm from embarrassment of singing to Travis.

I felt his thumb stroke my crimson cheek, as he spoke to me.

"You have an amazing voice." He said.

He moved his guitar onto the ground, and scooched closer to me, draping his strong arm around my shoulder, and allowing my body to lean into his chest.

"I love you." He whispered, kissing the top of my head.

I chuckled, "How did I get so lucky to end up with someone as perfect as you?"

"I ask myself the same question everyday." He said, smiling.

I took his free hand, playing with it, and gliding my fingers along his.

"I love you too." I said.

"WOOOOOOOO! WHO'S READY TO FUCKING PARTTTTY!" Jack screamed, running out of the house behind us.

He ran up to us, draping his arms around both of us and wedging his head in between ours.

"You two are so cute." He giggled, then ran away.

Travis laughed, looking at me, "You ready to 'FUCKING PARTY?'"

I giggled, nodding my head, taking his hand and standing up, making our way down to the beach behind everyone else.


	6. Chapter 6

[ Haylie's POV ]

I laughed at Garrett, who was going on about a zombie movie to John, who had no idea what he was talking about. We had just arrived at the bonfire, where about a hundred people were. The fire hadn't started yet, but since it was getting dark, a bunch of people were hovering around a woods area nearby, in search for firewood.

Garrett and John both checked with me and walked over to the cooler to grab a beer and socialize with some local guys.

I smiled, continuing to walk, searching around the beach for Jess or Megan.

"You wanna drink, gorgeous?" A tall gangly looking guy asked me, offering a bud light.

I opened my mouth to respond, but a body stepped in front of me.

"No, she won't. But thanks for asking, stud." Alex snapped.

"Alex, what are you doing!" I hit him as the guy walked away frightened.

Alex turned around, facing me.

"Haylie, you're nineteen, you aren't drinking." He said.

"EXCUSE ME?" I shrieked."That is probably the most hypocritical thing I've ever heard!"

Alex sighed, "I know I'm not a good example, but listen, I won't drink tonight either."

I raised my eyebrows, "I don't even think you're capable of that."

"Fine, two beers at max, but Haylie, we're on vacation, I'm just looking out for you."

"Really? Cause Garrett's nineteen. How come you didn't 'look out for him' and stop him from grabbing a beer?" I snapped, pointing towards Garrett and John, who were laughing along with a bunch of guys.

"Haylie, please." Alex begged.

"Just leave me alone." I said icily, turning around to look for Jess or Megan.

"Haylie, wait!" Alex called after me, but I walked faster.

I glanced behind me to make sure he wasn't following me, and ran straight into something hard. I clutched my head, then glanced up and chuckled.

"Sorry, Zack." I apologized, swaying a little from the impact of his chiseled muscles.

He laughed, grabbing my shoulders to make sure I was okay.

"It's alright Hayls." He said, but his smile faded. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I sighed, rolling my eyes and looking away. "Just, Alex."

"Is he being a douche? Cause I'll punch him for you-"

I laughed, "Does bros before hoes mean nothing to you, Zachary?"

"Hey, I'm a gentleman, my dear, I look out for Haylie first." He grinned.

"Thanks, Zack." He pulled me into a hug, and squeezed me tight, making me laugh.

"Owww! Your manly muscles are too much for my tiny feminine body!" I chuckled.

He laughed, "Come on, let's go hang out by the fire."

We sat on a huge tree log that one of the strong football playing looking dudes had lugged over to the fire, and laughed, making conversation with a couple of other people.

"Hey, do you want a drink?" One of the guys with pretty blue eyes asked me, leaning close.

I smiled politely, ready to decline, but the moment I'd shared with Alex earlier ran through my mind. Anger filled my entire body, and rebellion became the only thing on my mind.

"I'd love one." I said, flashing him a flirty smile.

He grinned back at me, and stood up, walking over to the cooler. I turned back to the fire, and felt Zack's eyes burning a hole in the side of my head. I looked at him, and he was giving me a look like, 'what are you doing?'.

"What?" I asked him innocently. "I'm only going to have one."

Zack sighed, "Just be careful, Hayls."

"I can take care of myself." I snapped.

The blue-eyed guy came back to the fire, and handed me an ice cold mike's hard lemonade.

"Hope you like this, it's all that was left." He said, flashing me a killer smile.

"Yeah, this is great." I smiled nervously.

The truth was, I'd only had one beer before, and on the inside, I was shaking. I didn't know what to expect, other than a boat full of guilt and regret tomorrow morning.

"Haylie!" A distant voice called.

I glanced around, but grabbed my head, the whole beach was spinning, and even though

it was only around midnight, I was already beginning to regret having five bottles of alcohol. I looked at the ground, staring at it, begging the dizziness to stop.

"Haylie." A strong hand gripped my arm. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

I looked up, seeing three Alex's spinning, and frowned.

"L-leave me alone." I slurred, turning back towards the fire.

"Haylie, please, we need to-wait, are you drunk?" Alex asked angrily.

"N-no." I snapped.

"Haylie, I TOLD you not to fucking drink!" Alex groaned, running his hands through his hair.

"I don't have to LISTEN TO YOU!" I said loudly, standing up.

I stumbled, falling towards the fire. Alex caught me, and I glared up at him.

"Don't touch me." I growled.

"I'm taking you home." He said.

"No! Get the f-fuck away from me!" I yelled, trying to stand up.

Alex sighed, "Haylie, please." He begged sincerely.

His eyes looked tired and worried, and they looked into mine, calming me down. He could see this, and he gently stood me up. I took a step away, crossing my arms and glaring at him.

"Why are you being like this?" I asked, wiping a tear that had began to fall down my face.

Alex sighed, "We need to talk."

Despite my state of being, I knew what he was talking about.

"F-fine, you wanna talk? Talk." I snapped.

"I can't talk to you like this. Please, Hayls, just let me take you back to the house." Alex begged.

I glared at him, staying silent, and he took that as a yes. He slowly walked towards me and wrapped his arm around my waist, beginning our walk towards the house. I shot him a dirty look, but allowed him to guide me along the beach.

We finally reached the house, and by then I was half asleep in Alex's arms. He laid me down carefully on my queen size bed.

The next morning, I woke up to a splitting pain stabbing at my head.

I moaned, rolling over, but my body hit something. I slowly opened my eyes, and flinched, staring at Alex's sleeping body. I groaned, trying to remember what happened last night, and wincing at the parts I did remember. I grabbed my head, not being able to bear the pain.

I shoved the covers off my body, heading towards the bathroom. I grabbed a bottle of Advil out of the medicine cabinet and swallowed three pills down with a cup of tap water, praying that it would act it's magic quickly. I walked back to my room, crawling into bed quietly. And closed my eyes.

I woke up an hour later to Alex stirring next to me. I opened one eye to see if he was actually awake, but saw that he was staring at me.

"Hi." He said quietly, nervous.

"Hi." I responded, rubbing my eyes.

Thankfully, my headache had disappeared for the most part.

"Um, how ya' feeling?" Alex asked.

"Mmm, I've been better." I said quietly.

I turned my body, facing him. As I looked into his eyes, I could tell that half of him wanted

to say 'I told you so' and the other half just wanted to make me feel better.

"Haylie, we really have to talk." Alex said quietly.

I groaned, "So early?" I asked, complaining, trying to avoid the subject.

But He looked into my eyes, letting me know that this was completely serious.

I sighed, slowly sitting up and turning towards him.

"Okay, let's talk."

Alex sat up too, facing me, with a serious expression, and he sighed.

"You were listening outside the guest house." He stated softly.

I looked down, ashamed, and blinked back tears.

"Sorry. I was just curious." I said.

"Why were you crying?" Alex asked slowly.

"I scraped my knee, I fell, AJ heard me, and came running. My hero. Next question." I said.

"Haylie." Alex put a finger under my chin, looking into my eyes.

"Look, what do you want me to say, Alex?" I asked, my eyes glistening.

"I want you to tell me the truth." He begged.

"Fine. You want the truth? I like you. Okay? I don't know why, but I do." I admitted. "Now, go away."

"Haylie, stop." Alex said.

"Stop what?" I exclaimed. "You wanted the truth, I told you! I know for a fact you don't feel the same way, and obviously I didn't have a great night last night, so you can spare me any more pain and just go."

"You don't know anything." He said.

"Excuse me?" I asked, surprised.

"I'm sorry, Haylie, I mean, I just, I don't know what I'm feeling right now. All I know is that last night, all I wanted was for you to be safe and in my arms. And I still do. Right now, the only thing going through my mind is that I would give the world to make you happy. And I'm beating myself up inside because obviously you aren't. And this all just happened so quickly, so I don't know what to do, because it's never happened before, and-"

"What?" I gasped.

Alex sighed, "Look I know I've been a dick, but if you would just let me make it up to you-"

Suddenly a rush of something came over me. My eyes widened, and I bolted out of the room to the bathroom. Leaning my head over the toilet, I let everything come out, and found the feeling that I had known was coming last night, which was regret, come over me. I groaned into the toilet once I was finished, and felt a soft hand rub my back.

I looked up at Alex, who had a sympathetic, and guilty look on his face.

"You know Hayls," He began quietly, "you could've just said no and slapped me, you didn't have to throw up."

I chuckled, looking into his eyes. They were filled with happiness from making me laugh, sadness for me being sick, and what looked like love.


	7. Chapter 7

**Jess' POV**

"OHHHHHHHH MY GODDDD! AHHH! WHAT THE FUCKKK!"

My eyes fluttered open, and I glanced at my surroundings, confused. I looked at Kennedy, who had a pillow over his head, clearly trying to block out the screaming that was coming from god knows where.

"JACK GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" I heard a male voice scream.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, assuming that I should have only expected such a loud volume of noise this early to be coming from Jack. I grabbed my phone on the nightstand beside me, pressing a button on the side to see what time it was. 9:34, I sighed. I supposed that was as much sleep as I was going to get around here, as I listened to Jack continue to scream about how his eyes were burning.

Heaving myself out of our nice and cozy bed, I made my way out of our bedroom and to the bathroom. After fixing my disgraceful hair, and brushing my teeth, I wandered back to our room, and crawled back on the bed, hovering over Kennedy.

"Kennnny." I whispered loudly.

He made a small noise, not really convincing me that he was awake. I sighed, deciding if he had the skill of being able to sleep through Jack's screaming, that he deserved to sleep. I went to get off the bed and change, but Kennedy's voice stopped me.

"Don't leave." He said quietly.

I giggled, "Oh, so now you're awake?"

"No, I'm sleeping, just stay here with me."

I smiled, laying next to him, and he turned to face me, opening his eyes, and grinning.

"Did you hear Jack?" I asked him.

He nodded, he smile fading with annoyance.

"I was going to let you sleep, you know."

"I know." He whispered. "But I want to cuddle."

I chuckled at his choice of words, and he grabbed me, pulling me towards him, and wraping his arms around me.

"That's better." He smirked.

He pressed his forehead against mine, then his lips to mine, closing his eyes as tingles shot through my entire body. Kennedy pulled away, smiling my favorite crooked smile, and staring into my eyes.

"Much better." I said quietly, blushing.

"You look pretty today, Jessica." A female voice complimented me.

"Thanks." I said, pouring milk into my bowl of frosted flakes.

I quickly paused when I processed the person's voice, whipping my head around.

"CASSADEE!" I exclaimed, scrambling out of my chair and tackling her into a hug.

She laughed, "Good to see you to!"

"BEACH VOLLEYBALLLL! WOOOOOO!" Jack walked into the room, cheering, stopping in his tracks when he noticed who I was hugging.

"CHICKADEEEEEEEE!" He screamed, throwing himself onto our hug, crushing us both.

"Hey Skunky." Cass laughed, trying to breath.

"Did I hear Cass was here?" Haylie came running into the room, noticing our group hug. "CASSADEE!" She yelled, immediately clutching her head in pain. She ran over to us, and Jack and I pulled away, letting Haylie squish Cass, then Jack hopped on top of their hug, disabling both of them from breathing.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Alex suddenly said, walking into the room. "Don't crush my girlfriend!"

"You're WHAT?" Cassadee and Jack exclaimed, pulling away, as I squealed, clapped, and cheered, while jumping up and down.

Alex grinned as Haylie pulled away from Cassadee and walked over to Alex, settling herself under his arm and smiling.

Cassadee and I shrieked in happiness for the both of them, while Jack stood there confused.

"Wait, dude, what about Lisa?" He asked.

Alex's eyes widened, shooting Jack the dirtiest look I've ever seen, and Haylie's face fell automatically, and she moved herself away from Alex.

"Yeah, what about Lisa?" She asked icily, clearly just remembering that Alex had another girlfriend.

"I-I" Alex stammered, staring at Haylie with puppy dog eyes.

"Ugh." Haylie scoffed, rolling her eyes, she walked away, down the hallway.

"Haylie, wait!" Alex called, following her.

"Get away from me!" She yelled.

Cassadee and I both glared at Jack.

"Way to go dumbass." I snapped at him.

"What? It's not my fault! I was just wondering why he had two girlfriends!" Jack insisted, and we heard Haylie's door slam echo throughout the house.

"Who's up for some volleyball!" Garrett exclaimed, breaking the tension, tossing the ball back and forth between his hands.

"You know it! Count me in!" Jack said, standing up and walking over to join Garrett.

The two of them ran out to the beach while the others who had just gotten up, most likely due to all the yelling, followed. I didn't move, just leaned against the couch, deep in thought, wondering what to do about Haylie. Megan came walking into the room, wiping the sleep from her eyes, and sighing.

"Alright. I heard everything. What are we going to do?" She asked, ready to mend our best friend's heart.

"We need to talk to her." I said, standing up straight. She nodded her head in agreement and we both headed towards Haylie's room. Her door was open, revealing her on her bed staring at the ceiling.

"Haylie," I started, slowly approaching her from the doorway.

She responded with a sniffle, and mumbled something incoherent. Meg and I sat on either side of her on the bed, taking in the sight of her miserable tears.

"Guys suck." Haylie muttered.

"I know." I sighed sympathetically.

"What do you mean you know? You and Kennedy are the happiest couples I've ever seen, besides Megan and Travis. You guys are neck and neck." She threw her arm over her face, covering her puffy red eyes.

"I think she meant Alex sucks." Megan said quietly.

Haylie cracked a smile, and let out a small laugh, and Megan and I joined in.

"Everything will work itself out, Hayls. Don't worry." I told her, patting her knee comfortingly.

She nodded, seeming to gain her smile back.

Megan put her hand on Haylie's shoulder, staring into her eyes like she was about to talk to a little kid, "You wanna go spike a ball into some boys faces?"

Haylie laughed, nodding.

We walked out onto the beach with our arms linked, which we used to do all the time in elementary school. After a few minutes of searching we finally found the rest of the gang laughing and enjoying themselves by the volleyball net.

"Hey, look who finally showed up!" Travis joked, walking towards us.

"We're here, and we are ready to kick some ass." Haylie laughed, joining Garrett, Zack, and John on the right side of the net.

"What's the score?" I asked Travis, noticing the unfair teams.

"Kenny, Jack and I aren't doing too hot." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Who's the genious that made these teams?" Megan laughed "Travis, I love you and all but you and Jack aren't the most graceful athletes."

"Don't worry. Megan and I will help the losers be victorious!" I said with complete confidence, even thought I knew all too well we didn't have a chance of beating Zack, Garrett, John, and Haylie.

After a mild loss in the volleyball game, we all roamed around the beach, enjoying the beautiful day, and soaking up the sun. Or in Travis, Megan, and my cases, trying not to get burnt too badly.

"Have I ever told you you have a stunning voice?" I asked Kennedy, as we walked along the beach.

Everyone else was in the water, except for us and Travis and Meg. I smirked when I saw the two of them laughing together in the sand, with his arm draped around her lovingly, then turned my attention back to Kenny.

He grinned sheepishly, "Have I ever told you your a magnificent guitar player?"

"Learned from the best!" I said, chuckling.

Kennedy raised his eyebrows, "Who? Me?" He grinned playfully, pointing to himself.

"Nope, my dad." I smirked.

I plopped onto the sand, smiling up at him.

Kennedy chuckled, looking down at me, "Ohhhh, alright, Ms. I'm-all-that."

"It's true. I am." I agreed teasingly, laughing.

"Mhmmm." He laughed, walking away.

"Hey! Where are you going!" I called after him.

"Stay there!" Kennedy commanded, chuckling.

"Alright." I said to myself, sighing.

I laid back, into the sand, closing my eyes and absorbing the sun. Travis had lent Meg and I his 110 SPF sunblock earlier, so I was all set. I pulled down my tan straw sun hat with a black band around it, so that it shielded my sensitive eyes from the suns deadly rays, as I waited to see what in the world my boyfriend was doing. I tried not to fall asleep, fearing someone, most likely Jack or Garrett, would bury me in the sand.

Apparently I let myself doze off, because I was startled when a shadow suddenly cast over me, blocking the sun, and a pair of soft lips pressed against mine. I grinned, of course knowing who it was, and kissed him back sweetly. I opened my eyes as he pulled away, and lifted up my hat to admire his grinning face.

"What have you been up to, my dear?" Kennedy asked, as if I was the one who'd randomly walked away.

"Oh I dunno, sleeping, probably getting a sunburn, wondering where my boyfriend mysteriously went off to..." I said.

"Ahh." He said with knowledge in his tone, and he held up a blue pale, which seemed to be filled with seashells.

"Starting a collection?" I questioned, raising my eyebrows.

He shook his head, placing the bucket down, and leaning towards me. Kennedy placed his hands on my shoulders, gently pushing me back so I was completely laying down in the sand. He held himself up, hovering over me and grinning. He pressed his lips to mine, softly first, and then suddenly stronger. Our lips seemed to meld together, and when he eventually pulled away, mine were left tingling, and I felt disoriented and weak at the knees.

"What was that for?" I asked quietly, once I caught my breath.

"I love you." Kennedy said.

I grinned, a warm chill shooting up my spine.

"I love you too." I cupped his cheeks, pressing my lips to his once again.

"Now." Kennedy grinned, standing up. "Don't move."

"What?" I laughed, perplexed.

He remained silent, and picked up his bucket. Kennedy began to take out shells and place them around me, outlining my body.

I laughed when I came to the realization of what he was doing.

"You are so corny!" I giggled, watching him.

"Stay still." Kennedy said, flashing me his crooked smile.

I smiled back at him reluctantly, rolling my eyes.

"You are so lame."

"Oh my gosh! This is adorable!" Meg squealed, walking up to us. "Where's my camera?"

**Alex's POV**

I hadn't moved an inch for two and a half hours. I heard everyone excitedly head to the beach, and haven't heard a thing since, the only exception being the screaming in my head. There was tons of it.

Haylie's voice, 'Get away from me!'

Her last words towards me were echoing through my mind like a stabbing pain.

The good part of my conscience, 'Go kick Lisa to the curb and find Haylie, NOW! Why the heck do you think all those feelings were stirring up inside of you yesterday? Why do you think you got so protective of her? Why do you think that you go borderline insane when you're around her? YOU. LOVE. HER! Accept it, and create your fairytale! It's the right thing to do!'

Apparently the angelic part of me didn't swear. The thought of this almost made me want to chuckle, seeing as how much of the good part of me came out in my words all the time. But seeing as I hadn't been able to move for so long, I didn't budge now.

The darker side of my conscience was also getting a piece of me. 'What the hell are you doing, dude? You're lying here, wasting hours of your precious life. DO SOMETHING! Go get some action from Lisa, she's waiting for you to apologize at the hotel downtown! Or go pick up a couple chicks at that soddy bar down the street! Anything, man! You're wasting your time over some fucking chick!'

The devilish side of me, however, clearly had some very colorful words to say. I knew which side was right. I knew what my heart was telling me. I had most of my answers, but not the biggest one.

How could I get her back?

I finally sighed, cringing when I tried to stand up. My body was pretty much locked into place after refusing to move. I slowly rose off of my bed, and walked out the door of the guest house, grabbing my keys off the coffee table. Jogging towards my escalade out front, I hopped in and backed out of the driveway.

Driving down the main street of Laguna Beach, I glanced around at the oversized signs and advertisements, in search of a specific name. As my eyes scanned through several restaurants, clubs, stores, and shops, I finally came across the one I was looking for. I pulled into the parking lot, snatching a space right in front, and quickly walking in the automatic doors, ignoring the employee in front trying to make conversation.

I walked right up to the front desk, staring at the lady who was speaking with an old woman. I grew impatient as the milliseconds passed, and couldn't take it.

"Is Lisa Jayson here?" I blurted rudely.

The boss lady glared at me, and the elderly woman continued to talk as if I hadn't interrupted.

"I'm with a customer right now." She said icily, turning back to the old lady with a big fake smile.

"Could you just please call her room and tell her I need to see her, Lisa Jayson, it's an emergency." I said.

The woman pursed her lips and rolled her eyes, turning towards the computer next to her and slowly searching for Lisa's room number. She finally found it and dialed her number, moving like molasses. I taped my fingers on the desk impatiently, and the old lady turned to me.

"You look like my grandson." She said loudly.

"That's excellent, Ma'm." I muttered, staring at the phone.

"Why are you so insistent on seeing this girl?" The old woman asked, looking at me curiously behind her huge, thick rimmed glasses.

Normally and especially in the stressful and unpleasant mood and situation that I was in, I would have snapped something like, 'Actually, Lisa's a boy, we came here to California get married what with the new law override, and I just can't wait to make sweet love to my man.'

But instead, I stared the lady right in the eyes, "I need to break up with her, because she's a bitch, and I'm in love with my best friend."

"Aww, well that's just adorable! What's her name, sonny?" The woman looked like she was about to pinch my cheek, which caused me to blush. At least someone was happy about this.

"Her name is Haylie, and she's amazing." I told her.

"She makes you very happy, I can tell." She said wisely.

"Yes she does." I sighed, looking back to the desk lady, who had just hung up the phone.

"She's in room 666, and she told said for you to come right-" The lady said.

Before she could even finish her sentence, I was bolting to the door with the stairs image on it, taking the steps two at a time up to the sixth floor. I scoffed at the irony of Lisa's room number, and cursed violently under my breath at the idea of her willingly inviting me up to her room because she honestly thought I was there to apologize about getting into a fight with her and defending my best friends.

I finally reached the door with the number six on it, hauling it open and frantically following the '39-70' room numbers scanning the digits on each even door. I reached number 66, and took a deep breath, firmly knocking on the door. It opened almost immediately, and Lisa was revealed in a skimpy red lingerie, with some sort of red transparent silk draped over her shoulders, and a half empty glass of wine in her hands.

"Do you have company?" I asked abruptly, suddenly hoping that this would be easy.

"Now I do." Lisa smirked mischievously, taking her finger and running it down my arm. "Did you have something to say to me, Alex?"

"Yes I do." I said, shaking my head to concentrate. It wasn't that I was attracted to Lisa still, my mind was only focused on the goal of Haylie and I being together, but the two times that Lisa and I had had sex, were really good. Her flaunting herself in that outfit wasn't going to make this hard for me, however, because I had discovered that my feelings for Haylie were much stronger than I thought they were. "We're done, Lisa. Absolutely done. And I'm so sorry that I was ever with you in the first place. I shouldn't have wasted both of our time, and I'm sorry... So have a nice life."

I flashed Lisa a small fake smile as she stood there speechless, and quickly escaped before I could here her scream.


	8. Chapter 8

[ Cassadee's POV ]

"What're we doing today, guys?" I asked as everyone took a seat in the living room, just finishing up cleaning from breakfast.

"LET'S THROW A PARTY!" Jack squealed.

We all looked at him like he was insane, then exchanged glances with each other.

"That's actually not a bad idea, Jackie." John said.

"Well why would I give you a bad idea?" Jack asked, sounding hurt.

"It's alright, Jackattack, thank you for contributing your idea." Megan said, smiling.

I laughed, she was always the one trying to make him feel better. Personally, I think it's because she's great with kids, and Jack is just a really big kid with a disgusting mind. But we all loved him anyways.

"Alright, so we'll throw a party." Travis said. "But how are we going to get people here?"

"Oh! Oh! Oh! We should have Zack's girlfriend tell everyone!" Jack exclaimed.

Zack glared at him, "She's not my girlfriend."

"Yeah, suuuure." Jack said, rolling his eyes.

"That's actually not a bad idea." Jess said. "She could spread the word about it, she knows a lot more people around here than we do."

"Alright, I'll ask her." Zack agreed. "But do you really think she'll be able to get more than like twenty people here?"

"Dude, we're renting this house. We can't have like sixty people come in here and destroy it." Kennedy said, laying on Jess' lap.

"Then it's decided. Party here starting at eight, and Zack's lady friend will let her twenty closest friends know. Meeting adjourned!" Garrett announced.

We all stayed where we were, staring at him.

"What if we want to stay here?" I asked quietly.

"That's fine, I've just always wanted to say that." Garrett said sheepishly, turning on the television. "YES! HOW IT'S MADE! HOW DO I GET SO LUCKY?"

We all groaned loudly, and John snatched the remote away from poor Garrett, changing the channel.

"CHICKADEEEE!" Jack called, skipping into my room that I was sharing with Haylie.

"Yes, Jack?" I asked, looking up at him from my comfortable position on my double bed.

"Can you pick out my clothes for tonight? I wanna look handsome for all the foxy California ladies." He said, flashing me a toothy grin.

I flashed him a small smile, rolling myself off the bed, and following him to his room he was sharing with Zack. My eyes widened as I saw a massive amount of clothes scattered everywhere except where Zack was taking a nap on his bed.

"Jack, what happened?" I asked quietly, shocked at the sight.

"Umm, my suitcases threw up?" Jack said as more of a question than a statement, shooting me an innocent expression.

I chuckled, and began to dig through the endless amount of clothes, finding him something to wear. Finally, I put together a Jac Vanek 'sorry for partying' t-shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans, since he refused to wear shorts. He ran to put the outfit on in the bathroom, and came back into the room with his hair combed, smiling.

"Do I look prettttty?" He asked, batting his eyes and posing.

"Yeah Jackie, you look beautiful." I giggled. "I'm gonna go change now."

"Do I get to help you, since you helped me?" Jack asked as I began to walkout of the room.

I turned around, shooting him a questioning expression, "What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking yo' birthday suit." Jack said smiling, and winked.

I rolled my eyes, cracking a smile. "See you later, Kit-Kat."

I grinned at my tight yellow tank top, brown belt, and short jean shorts in the mirror, and searching around for my favorite necklace. I finally found it, clasping it around my neck and letting it fall past my chest. Grabbing the nearest vest I could find, I threw it on, completing my look. Satisfied, I slipped on a pair of macbeth sneakers and walked out of the room in search of a girl to verify that I looked okay.

"Hey Meg?" I asked, peeking into her and Travis' room.

"Down here!" She said from the floor. She was strapping on a pair of brown gladiators, and she smiled up at me, finishing and standing up.

"You look pretty!" Meg boasted, looking me over.

"Thanks, that's actually what I was going to ask you." I chuckled. "You do too!"

I admired her short and simple navy floral sundress.

"Party, party, PARTYYY! Party, party, PARTY!" Jack and Haylie were congo-ing around the house, while the rest of us got out drinks, snacks, and music for all the party-goers. I shot Alex a sympathetic look, who was sitting on the fireplace mantel in the corner with his head in his hands. I sighed, figuring that he and Haylie would have to work out their problems sooner or later.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Jack gasped loudly and dramatically, sprinting to answer it. As he opened it, about ten girls greeted him with a smile and a bowl of most likely spiked fruit punch covered in saran-wrap.

"Hey ladies." Jack attempted to be smooth, winking.

I just laughed at him, grinning towards Megan and Garrett next to me, who chuckled too.

By nine thirty, there were around fifty people dancing and mingling and drinking in our beach house. A couple of us started to worry about the amount of people, but we loosened up and just went with the flow after a little while.

I made my way to Travis, who was the closest familiar face I saw throughout the chaos surrounding me.

"Hey." I greeted him, smiling at the guy he was talking to.

"Hey Cass." He smiled, slinging his arm over my shoulder.

I laughed, aware that he had had a few drinks. Travis was the funniest drunk I'd ever seen. It never made him aggressive, or do something that he wouldn't normally do, it just made him even more friendlier and outgoing.

"Cassie, this is Joel." Travis said, pointing to the guy he was talking to.

Joel held out his hand for my to shake, and I was a bit impressed. Usually any guy would just nod and move on.

"I'm Cassadee." I smiled politely, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you." He said, grinning.

I had to admit that this guy wasn't bad looking at all. He was wearing a faded green graphic t-shirt and tan cargo shorts with flip flops, a typical California male's beach attire. His short dark brown hair looked like it had faced the wind of the beach, and his white smile was adorable.

"You too." I said, blushing.

"I'm gonna go find Meg." Travis said, noticing our moment and pointing the other way.

"Do you want a drink?" Joel asked, not paying attention to Travis' exit.

"Sure, thanks." I smiled.

"Fruit punch okay?" He asked, walking towards the counter.

"Yeah." I nodded.

I couldn't stop grinning. I looked around and spotted Jess right near me. I grabbed her shirt and squealed.

"See that guy over there?" I said, looking at Joel.

"Yeah." She grinned knowingly, staring at him.

"Isn't he gorgeous?" I sighed.

"Yeah." Jess smirked. "So no more Jack?"

I looked at her, confused, "Jack and I broke up three years ago."

She just shrugged, "Love can re-kindle."

I sighed, rolling my eyes and turning away, putting a smile on my face as Joel walked back to me with our drinks.

"So how do you know these guys?" Joel asked, making small talk.

"They're my best friends." I said. "Most of them I met on tour, I sing in a band called Hey Monday."

"Really?" He asked. Joel seemed surprised, but in the most polite way, like he was embarrassed he didn't already know that. "Well that's awesome, I'll have to check you guys out. You playing any shows in California any time soon?"

I had to admit, I was a little surprised he cared so much. I didn't know whether to feel creeped out with his over friendliness, or flattered. But I smiled and nodded, deciding that he was too cute to be creepy.

"Yeah, we play here next month." I said cheerfully. The fruit punch was already starting to bring out my perky side.

"Sweet, I'll definitely come." He grinned, looking straight into my eyes, which I didn't know what to make of. I wasn't used to this kind of attention, I never really went along with being hit on, but this guy was different.

Joel leaned towards me, "do you wanna take a walk?"

Woah. Was this a line he was crossing? Should the creeped out feeling start now? I quickly glanced around for Jess, or someone else, just to save me, or know where I was, just in case this guy ended up to be bad news. But I couldn't find anyone I knew in this crowd. So I faked a smile and kept my panic invisible.

"Sure."

Joel smiled and subtly took my hand, leading me through the crowd towards the back sliding door.

We ended up walking down to the beach, ditching our shoes and allowing our bare feet to sink into the sand. Somehow my arm ended up looping itself through his, and we were laughing and joking about silly things. We just walking along the water, the moon was casting its' shadow on us, and we were occasionally getting splashed by the dark ocean's waves.

We didn't notice that the party inside had completely died down until we found ourselves sitting closely together in the sand, staring at the moon, with no noise in the backround.

"Huh, I guess that means I better go." Joel said, attempting to hide his obvious sadness.

I had to admit, I was actually bummed that he had to go too. Throughout our conversation, Joel had made it clear that he wasn't the type of guy that just hooked up, and he'd never have a one night stand, which eased my worries, even if he could have been bluffing. Which he clearly wasn't.

We walked back to the house, and ended up at the front door.

"I had a really great time with you, Cassadee Blake." Joel said.

Honestly, I felt like I was in a sappy movie, and normally I would have just yelled 'CORNY!' and laughed at the guy, but something about it made my stomach churn, especially how he used my middle name.

"So did I." I smiled.

"Do you think this could happen again?" He asked, sort of hopeful.

"I don't see why not." I responded slyly.

"Good. I'll call you." He grinned, then leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

He lingered for a moment, then smiled, and was out the door. I grinned, locking the door for the night, and leaning against it, touching my cheek.

Huh.


	9. Chapter 9

Megan's POV

"Mmmmm."

I slowly opened my eyes to see the sunlight shining in the window from Laguna Beach. I grinned, could this vacation get any better?

I shifted my body around, and was greeted by beautiful blue eyes fluttering open. Nope, definitely can't get any better than this.

"Morning, Love." Travis whispered, placing a soft kiss on my lips.

"Good Morning." I smiled, blushing.

"Ready to get out of this bed?" He asked, looking into my eyes.

"Actually, yeah. I'm starving." I chuckled.

We both rolled out of our king size bed, and Travis strolled into the bathroom, giving me time to find something to wear. I dug through one of my open

duffle bags, finding a white sundress. I grabbed my make up and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Trav! Can I shower?" I called.

He opened the door, "Of course, me lady."

He had already taken the quickest shower known to man, and his hair was soaked, and plastered to his head.

I smiled, slipping past him, and covering myself with a large beach towel as I took off one of his bigger t-shirts I had worn to bed.

"Don't look at me!" I said, as I tried to make the quick transfer into the shower without getting the towel wet. Travis had stayed in the bathroom, now blowdrying his

hair.

"That's a high expectation, Meg." I heard him laugh from outside of the shower.

I walked into the kitchen, where I found Travis, Garrett, Alex, and John lounging on the couch watching something on discovery channel.

"Yes, a girl!" John exclaimed, as they all looked up at me.

"That may just be the dorkiest thing I've ever heard." I chuckled. "What, no breakfast? Dang, the service here sucks."

"Actually," John said, standing up. "I was hoping to take you out to breakfast."

Travis cleared his throat, "Boyfriend of the girl you just asked out, sitting right here."

John laughed, "Nothing personal, dude. I just need a girls' opinion for my problems."

"Pshhh! So you would have asked any girl that came through that hallway? You don't value my opinion the most? I'm so offended! The nerve! Wait-did you say breakfast?" I stopped.

John nodded, grinning.

"Let's go!" I said, walking quickly towards the door. "Bye Trav!"

"Hey! Bring her back in one piece mister! Love you!" Travis yelled from the couch.

"Love you too, Ging." John grinned, winking and shutting the door behind him.

"So, here's the thing." John said as we began to drive. "I met this girl last night, at the party."

He glanced at me to assure that he had my attention, and I nodded, so he continued.

"So she was gorgeous, and her name is Katie. But, I only talked to her for like 10 minutes. I mean, we hung out and stuff, but with Garrett, and all of her friends. I didn't really get to know

her, you know? So now she's all I can think about, and I just want to see her again. Know what she likes, doesn't like, everything about her. I just can't get her out of my head. But I never

even got her number, there's no way I can see her ever again. And I'm freaking out."

"Someone caught the love bug!" I taunted in a sing-songy way, chuckling.

"Shut uuuuuup, what do I do?" John asked anxiously.

"Cornelious, I really cannot assess this situation properly until my stomach is full. So drive faster, please."

"Here are your eggs sir, and your pancakes, Miss." The waitress smiled, turning her head back to John. "Can I get you anything else?"

John shook his head, smiling politely, and she walked away.

"Eat fast, Red. I'm waiting over here." He said.

I nodded, shoveling a bite of pancakes in my mouth.

"Alright." I said, "do you said her name was Katie?"

John nodded, eager to recieve any advice.

"What'd you find out about her?" I asked curiously, taking another bite of my delicious food.

"Well, I found out her name is Katie. And she goes to CSU with that girl Zack's into. That's pretty much it." John frowned.

"Well, you've got something." I told him.

"I do? What?" He asked, perplexed.

"You know that you can probably get her number through Zack's girlfriend." I smiled.

"Yes! Genius! That is why I needed a girl!" John grinned. "All the guys could come up with was, well nothing. They just asked what she looked like, and Garrett said she was hot."

I laughed, "I gotchyour back, Johnnycakes."


End file.
